The Flywheel

Next Meeting: August 20th

John Ziesenhenne, once the youngest elected official
in Richmond, visits Richmond Rotary to tell us why he is
again seeking public office in Richmond—this time to
become its mayor.

The other mayoral and city council candidates in the upcoming
elections will be invited to our club in coming weeks and months.

Last Meeting: August 13th

Welcome, Invocation, Thought for the Day

John Nicol led us in the pledge and
Herb Cole thought for the day involved a moment of silence
for peace and freedom for all. Henry Kelman thanked Mark
Howe for sending out the database link to the
Contra Costa Times website that shows what public officials
earn annually including overtime but not including the
present value of their extremely generous defined benefit
pensions – a type of pension plan dropped decades
ago by the private sector in favor of defined contribution
plans (e.g. 401K).

Visiting Rotarians

Henry Kelman brought his brother Joe,
who many of us consider a Rotarian even though he may
not be of to snuff technically.

Rotarians with Guests

Announcements

San Pablo Rotary is holding an Oktoberfest Beer – athon
at Rockefeller Lodge. Tickets are $35 and
the event will be held on October 2, from 12:00-6:00.

The current district governor wants each member to
purchase for $7 a picture dictionary and then he will
have them distributed to Africa. See Pam Jones
if you are interested.

Click to enlarge.

This year the local Rotary Clubs—Berkeley,
Albany, Richmond, San Pablo, El Cerrito, El Sobrante,
and Pinole (aka “Barsheep”)—will
have a presence at the Solano Stroll.

Karen Nierlich,
President of the El Cerrito Rotary, and Nick
Despota teamed up to create the back page
(read “prime real estate”) of the Solano
Stroll program. Great exposure.

New Member:

Joan Davis was inducted into the Club today as a Red
Badge Member. Joan is the new President of the
Richmond Children’s Foundation, an entity that
was set up to manage the $13 Million received from General
Chemical after their Sulfuric Acid spill some years ago. She
gave us a glimpse of her very interesting and accomplished
background:

Joan did her undergraduate work in Omaha, where she also completed
her law degree. She worked for in the corporate world for IBM and ZEROX
before taking the path of community service like many
of her family members where public service is considered
an honored part of ones career.

Happy and Sad Dollars

Henry Kelman was happy Joe could make visit down
from Redding. Joe's visited many Rotary clubs and
declared "Richmond is the best!!" Someone buy
that
man another beer.

Tom Waller reminded us about the
Point Richmond Music Festival tonight where the Wendy
Waller Groups was to perform – unfortunately
no relation.

Don Lau advised everyone to get
hurry up and get any money he owed them because his
daughter was shopping for a bridal gown and he soon
will be broke.

The Changing—and Unchanging—Roles
of Public Libraries

Our very own Rotarian, Monique La Conge,
current (but soon to depart) Richmond Library Director
and past president of the California Library Association,
spoke about the libraries’ role in our modern world—where
the synonym for research is “Google it”.
It’s a world where Stanford University is closing
is physical sciences library because the virtual equivalent
is better, faster, cheaper , freeing up valuable space
for other uses; a world where Google has the largest
virtual library ever assembled, available to everyone
in their home 24 hours a day for the price of an internet
connection (when there is a price).

Monique gave a litany of responses to the changing world
of information and access to it, responses that were
surprising, creative and enlightening:

Much of the information you find on the internet
is false; librarians have the skills to help find information
that’s reliable and accurate.

City Libraries are social meeting places – the
modern watering hold if you will.

At universities libraries are used as a quiet place
to study.

Public libraries do not charge for their services,
unlike like the virtual equivalents run by the Amazons,
Googles and Apples of the world.

Public libraries provide valuable services that help
its patrons and their communities prosper. An
example: reading time for young children introduces
them to the power of the written word while simultaneously
providing the experiences essential for healthy social
integration.

The Richmond Library does not currently offer e-books
(currently the cost to the Library is high, while the
usage has been small). However, the Contra Costa Library
loans e-books, as do a number of internet sites (Enter “ebooks”in
your search engine to find them.)

Libraries have free public access to the internet,
free legal aid, small business star-up classes and
many other kinds of information for those that cannot
afford it.

After 9/11 in New York City there was a spike in
library attendance, suggesting that the physical library
is a source of stability, reassurance and continuity
in the world.

[An editorial comment: I cannot think
of an institution more threatened by technology than
an old-fashioned brick and mortar, expensive library In
a time when municipal budgets are under strain, more
and more municipal decision makers may come to the same
conclusion. - M.H.]

Monique offered links to videos that point the direction
that modern libraries are taking. Have a look:

Upcoming Programs

August 27
Harlan Kerr, Director of Curriculum for WCCUSD, reports
on the effects of the Peace Rug program in kindergarten
and first grade classrooms, which the Rotary funded last
year. Mr. Kerr will discuss the value of character education.

Have a suggestion for a speaker?
Please pass along the name and contact information
to Jim Young.